Crescent danishes are a delicious breakfast treat (or snack) but making them at home can be exhausting. From scratch recipes often take over 8 hours for the dough alone! This recipe uses a quick cooking hack to make delicious danishes in under 30 minutes.
I love eating danishes and making them at home means that I can add whatever I want to the top and have them taste incredible every time. Not only that, but eating a warm cream cheese crescent roll breakfast danish fresh from the oven is always awesome!
What makes this crescent roll danish recipe even better is that it's so easy to make the kids can help out too! So give everyone a few and make breakfast a team effort. They'll enjoy helping and you'll feel great knowing they're making something that they actually WANT to eat.
Still have crescent rolls? Check out my Strawberry Cream Cheese Crescents, Chicken Cream Cheese Crescent Bombs, and Apple Pie Bites.
Why This Recipe Works
- They're cheap and fun. This recipe lets you have full creative control, and it's frugal too! Perfect for a simple breakfast.
- They're easy to make. Made with just a few simple steps, this recipe comes together quickly and is perfect for adding to any morning routine.
- They taste good warm and cold. While no one can deny fresh from the oven baked goods are delicious, these danishes taste great chilled in the fridge too. Make them the night before or meal prep a few for the week.
🥘 Ingredients
Canned Crescent Rolls- You will need some canned crescent rolls to give us the buttery crust that the danishes need.
Cream Cheese- For a rich and creamy filling, use thawed cream cheese.
Vanilla Extract- This is a flavor enhancer.
Powdered Sugar- Use powdered sugar to make the filling sweeter without changing the consistency.
Optional Toppings:
Jam- You can use your favorite jam or jelly.
Maraschino Cherries- For a cherry cheesecake flavor, add maraschino cherries to the center of your danishes before baking.
Fresh Fruit- You can use fresh fruit with your Danish filling for more flavor and variety if desired.
For the exact amounts needed, please see the recipe card below.
🍽 Equipment Needed
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🔪 Instructions
Check out how to make crescent roll danishes with these simple step-by-step instructions:
In a small bowl combine your cream cheese, vanilla extract, and powdered sugar until smooth. Set aside.
Open your can of crescent rolls, detach them from one another and then pick one up.
On the flat side of the triangle, grab the tip and the bottom of the wide end and roll them around to meet, forming an open circle.
Push them together to close in that gap and they take the top of the wide part of the triangle (it should be pointing straight up right now) and bring it around to make a bowl.
Push the sides down so that it's no longer a bowl, but a flat circle.
Spread out the dough a little as needed to make a slightly bigger circle.
Place onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet.
Using a spoon, grab a small amount of cream cheese (about half a spoon size, or half a tablespoon of cream cheese and place it in the center. If you don't wish to add anything else, you can double this amount.
Add a small amount of jam (sam amount as cream cheese) or add a few pieces of fresh fruit or cherries. You don't need to rub anything around, just place them in the center so that they aren't too close to the edges.
Bake for 12-15 minutes at 350F degrees.
Let cool on a wire rack and place the baking sheet beneath it.
If desired-In a small bowl, combine powdered sugar and milk or water to create a glaze, drizzle the glaze over the top, letting the sheet collect the mess.
Serve and enjoy.
🍴 Recipe Tips
I recommend using the already cut triangle crescent rolls because they roll up more easily and require less work. For a crescent roll sheet, you'll need to cut it into 2 or 3 inch strips and then roll it up and flatten it to get a similar look.
When you go to add the cream cheese and jam, it's going to feel like you don't have much on there, and I completely understand, but as you can see from the progress pictures included on this page, they spread and cover more surface area as they bake.
💭 FAQs
If stored in the fridge, you can get these danishes to last up to a week and still be good. Just make sure that you let them cool completely before storing them so that they don't become soggy.
These danishes can be frozen after they've cooled off. Just freeze them flat on a baking sheet and wrap each one individually and place them in an airtight container for up to 3 months. Alternatively, you can lay them flat and put a piece of parchment paper in between each layer.
Other awesome breakfast recipes to try soon!
📖 Recipe
Easy Crescent Roll Danishes
Ingredients
- 4 ounces Cream cheese, softened ($0.99)
- ½ teaspoons Vanilla extract ($0.01)
- ¼ cup Powdered sugar ($0.02)
- 2 cans Crescent roll dough ($1.64)
Optional Toppings
- Strawberry Jam
- Blackberry Jam
- Sliced Almonds
- Fresh Berries
- Maraschino Cherries
Glaze
- ¼ cup Powdered sugar ($0.02)
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract ($0.02)
- 3-4 Tablespoons Milk or water ($0.05)
Instructions
- In a small bowl combine your cream cheese, vanilla extract, and ¼ cup powdered sugar until smooth.
- Open your can of crescent rolls, detach them from one another and then pick one up. On the flat side of the triangle, grab the tip and the bottom of the wide end and roll them around to meet, forming an open circle.
- Push them together to close in that gap and they take the top of the wide part of the triangle (it should be pointing straight up right now) and bring it around to make a bowl.
- Push the sides down so that it's no longer a bowl, but a flat circle. Creating a small lip/rim around the edge is also a nice idea although not necessary.
- Using a spoon, grab a small amount of cream cheese (about half a spoon sized amount), or half a tablespoon of cream cheese and place it in the center. If you don't wish to add anything else, you can just double this amount.
- Add a small amount of jam (same amount as cream cheese) or add a few pieces of fresh fruit or cherries. You don't need to rub anything around, just place them in the center so that they aren't too close to the edges. They'll move and expand their coverage area as they bake.
- Pick up the danish and place it on a baking sheet. Bake for 12-15 minutes at 350F degrees.
- Let them cool on a wire rack and place the baking sheet beneath it.
- In a small bowl, combine powdered sugar, vanilla, and milk or water to create a glaze, drizzle the glaze over the top, letting the sheet collect the mess. Add the glaze while they're warm so that you don't have to wait so long for them to cool.
- Serve and enjoy.
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